1983 Negev mid-air collision

Accident

On 1 May 1983, during an Israeli Air Force dissimilar air combat training session over the Negev, an F-15D Eagle (called Baz (Falcon) by the Israelis) collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. The pilot of the Skyhawk was automatically ejected and his aircraft disintegrated. The right wing of the Eagle was sheared off roughly 2 ft from the root. The crew of the two-seat training version F-15, pilot Zivi Nedivi and navigator Yehoar Gal, did not initially realize the extent of the damage, as fuel leaking profusely and vaporizing at the wing attachment was obscuring their view of the area where the wing once was.

The F-15 started rolling uncontrollably after the collision and the instructor ordered an ejection. Nedivi, who outranked the instructor, decided not to eject and attempted recovery by engaging the afterburner, and eventually regained control of the aircraft. He was able to maintain control because of the lift generated by the large areas of the fuselage, stabilators, and remaining wing. Diverting to Ramon Airbase, the F-15 landed at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary lift, and its tailhook was torn off completely during the landing. Nedivi managed to bring his F-15 to a complete stop approximately 20 ft from the end of the runway. He later told The History Channel, "it's highly likely that if I had seen it clearly I would have ejected, because it was obvious you couldn't really fly an airplane like that." He added, "Only when McDonnell Douglas later went to analyze it, they said, OK, the F-15 has a very wide [lifting] body; you fly fast enough and you're like a rocket. You don't need wings."

Aftermath

The aircraft, 106 Squadron's #957 Markia Schakim (, Sky Blazer), was transported by road to an IAF maintenance unit at Tel Nof, where it was repaired. Having already claimed four enemy aircraft during the 1982 Lebanon War, the repaired aircraft was to claim a shared kill of another Syrian MiG-23 on November 19, 1985.

When Israel attacked Iran in retaliation on the night of 25-26 October 2024, this aircraft #957 was among those involved and was subsequently shown in a video by the IDF (see reference) – more than 41 years after the accident. The F-15D was formerly of 106 Squadron "Spearhead" and is now of 133 Squadron "Knights Of The Twin Tail" both based on Tel Nof (see different tail symbols below and the icon on the CFT added at some point on the right picture).

Israeli Air Force F-15D Baz 957 1.jpg|The F-15D Eagle Baz #957 at an exhibition in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2011 2024-10-26 Israeli strikes on Iran, F-15D -957 before the attack 2.jpg|The F-15D Eagle Baz #957 before the Israeli strikes on Iran during the night of 25-26 October 2024

In popular culture

The incident is referenced in the video game Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War with the character of Larry Foulke, a mercenary pilot who managed to land his F-15C after losing one of the plane's wings during a sortie, which lead to him receiving the nickname of "Solo Wing Pixy" and the right wing of his aircraft being painted red.

References

References

1. Leone, Dario. (September 15, 2014). "How an Israeli F-15 Eagle managed to land with one wing".
2. (2024-10-26). "This is what happened during the night of the attack in Iran".
3. Easley, Jon. (August 9, 2001). "USS Bennington - crew stories - No Wing F15".
4. (7 January 2007). "Heavy Metal: F-15". History Channel.
5. Aloni, Shlomo. (2006). "Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat". Osprey Publishing.
6. link. Sky-High.co.il. Eli. Antzikovsky